Majority Leader of the National Assembly Kimani Ichung'wah has come out to defend the House against accusations that it is disobeying court orders to carry out public consultations on the Affordable Housing Bill, 2023, throughout 12 counties.
The forums, scheduled to be chaired by the Finance and Planning Committee and the Housing Committee of the National Assembly, paved the way for an impending legal dispute between the Executive and litigants who received conservatory orders that prevented public participation.
To prevent public participation in the Bill until further instructions are given after the matter is decided later this month, the High Court in Kisumu issued a conservatory last month.
In a notice that was printed in print media on December 19, 2023, MP Ichung'wah claims that the House Finance and Finance committees invited the public to submit their memoranda on the Bill.
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According to the Kikuyu MP, the Kisumu High Court's order from that day only applied to conducting public participation in the way specified in the notice above that was printed in print media.
“The orders did not prohibit Parliament from conducting any other form of public participation including undertaking public hearings across the various parts of Kenya on the Bill, or the ordinary stakeholder engagements with key sectors, experts, workers, employers, informal sector, political parties, civil society and marginalized communities,” he said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
“In this regard, the two committees of the National Assembly intend to conduct public hearings across the country on the Bill in accordance with the constitutional obligation espoused in Article 118 of the Constitution and the fact is that this has not been stopped by the particular court order, which we have also challenged in court.”
Ichung'wah continued, saying, "It is also noteworthy that Parliament should conduct adequate and effective public participation, including through creating awareness on the Bill and holding public meetings.” This is the basis of the case that led to the court order by the High Court in Kisumu.
The lawmaker described the order as "ironical," stating that it prevents Parliament and the Executive from complying with another ruling by a three-bench High Court on the Affordable Housing Levy as provided for in the Finance Act, 2023, even though they have since challenged the Kisumu High Court ruling at the Court of Appeal.
“The High Court held that the Affordable Housing framework requires to be hinged on a comprehensive legal framework and hence the introduction of the Affordable Housing Bill, 2023 to comply with the judgement of the distinguished 3 Judges of the High Court as issued in November last year,” he stated.
“In the meantime as we await the guidance of the Courts on these matters, let it go on record that it is pure misreporting and rumour mongering to make unfounded reports that Parliament is in contempt of court orders. It is not.”
